National Hockey League
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Montreal 4, Toronto 3
When: 7:00 PM ET, Saturday, March 22, 2014
Where: Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Ontario
Referees: Greg Kimmerly, Tom Kowal
Linesmen: Derek Amell, Tony Sericolo
Attendance: 19789

Canadiens 4, Maple Leafs 3: Tomas Plekanec snapped a tie midway through the third period as visiting Montreal took the deciding game of its season series against Toronto.

Rene Bourque and captain Brian Gionta each recorded a goal and an assist for the Canadiens, who moved five points ahead of the Maple Leafs for third place in the Atlantic Division and within one of Tampa Bay for second. Max Pacioretty opened the scoring with his 31st tally and Carey Price made 33 saves.

Joffrey Lupul registered a goal and an assist while Tyler Bozak and Nazem Kadri also scored for Toronto, which has lost four straight and five of its last six. James Reimer stopped 32 shots in his fourth consecutive defeat as the Maple Leafs remained one point ahead of Detroit for the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.

Toronto trailed 3-2 after two periods, but Kadri took a feed from Lupul at the side of the net during a power play and buried it 2:49 into the third to knot the contest. The game remained even until Plekanec sent a sharp-angle shot under Reimer just as James van Riemsdyk’s goaltender interference penalty expired for his first goal since Feb. 6.

Pacioretty’s quick wrist shot from the high slot beat Reimer between the pads 5:47 into the game and Bourque made it 2-0 just 65 seconds later. Lupul and Bozak scored later in the first to tie it before Gionta wired a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle past Reimer with 53 seconds left in the period to restore Montreal's lead.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Price has allowed at least three goals in each of his four starts since returning from an injury suffered during the Winter Olympics. … Montreal D P.K. Subban recorded an assist, giving him six points in five games against the Maple Leafs. … Toronto C Dave Bolland played for the first time since Nov. 2, winning eight of his nine faceoffs and finishing minus-1 with one shot and three hits in 9:01 of ice time. ... Montreal won three of the five meetings while Toronto finished the season series 2-2-1.


Top Game Performances
 
Montreal   Toronto
Rene Bourque 2 Points Joffrey Lupul 2
Rene Bourque 1 Goals Joffrey Lupul 1
Rene Bourque 1 Assists Mason Raymond 2
N/A Power Play Goals Nazem Kadri 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Carey Price .917 Save Percentage James Reimer .889
Carey Price 33 Saves James Reimer 32
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Montreal 36 4 0-2 1-2 4 27
Toronto 36 3 1-2 2-2 4 31
Upcoming Games
  • Toronto will play their next game on the road against New Jersey. The Maple Leafs have a W/L % of .568 after a win and .429 after a loss.
  • Montreal will play their next game on the road against Boston. The Canadiens have a W/L % of .462 after a win and .636 after a loss.